Tool and handle attaching means therefor



Feb. 14, 195o C. DQBUDELMAN' 2,497,437 TOOL AND HANDLE ATTACHING MEANS THEREFOR Filed Appifl 2, `1947l f2 "llw v Y O22 Hf! 24 5; INVENTOR.

CHR/.froPf/ER afz Mfr/v MJ z e ffo/e/VEY Patented Feb. 14, 1950 AES o FFICE] '9 Claims;

This invention "relates such fas 'fa hammer or 'an ax, 'fandmore par'-1 tcxla-rly to meansl fior 5atta-ching'the handle 'tothefheadofftheitool.

,n h hammer handle is conventionally 'se'curedto the 'hammer head "by using opposite tapersl fad a wedge driven lindothe outer end in 'order tov expand the same. This arrangement, "althoughinexpensi've: and longlused; isnot' wholly `satisfactory, and sometimes*the'ihea'd lwill' 'ily-:offy thehandle during' luse. More frequently, the l'head may become 4loose on fthe handle, and to tighten it the hea-'d is'hamm'ered iurt'her--ontothehandle, thus ftighteningthe 't ali-fthe vinner taperjrbut unfortunately and 'necessa'ly, V'further'loosei'iin'gfthe' nt-'atlthe'outer taper; The primary object Aof' the jpr-esent "invention is to generally 'improve ltools such fas a ha'mmer, ax, 01" piek.

y 'A more 'particular olijectfis 'to'provide fanfeiective land 'inexpensive method aof attachmentln which the endo: the tool handle "and the; socket in the 'head freceivingthe same, ywillbermatingly tapered with `a "taper 'running only one direc. tion. rIhis :providesa tight-Tilt 'and avoidsfrock ing or loosel'lin'g 'of the head "on the" handle, pro-- vided thatfthe handle"isfheldfagairistiiiifial move-- ment out of `the 1mating".so'cliet-o'f the head. A further lobject 'is to pre-vent Asuc'h "initial rho'veement, and 'this i'sv-'donebyf-the '.provisionofa'nutin the handlerece'lvinfga 'screw on the head. l'Suche' an arrangement has "heretofore been proposed, but 'has not proveii' practical, either 'because of the expense of building 'the desired' -'cohstru'c tion 'into the tool, for `-beeause o'f vialure 'to lock the screw against looseningunder the vibration and impacts resulting' from '-use 'of the "tool, or because 'the provision ofthe necessary parts in t'he handle have H'weakened 'the handle, fso that it was likely to break or split whenfstlv'edted to' an veXtra-"heavy blow. v

'It 'is the speoi'c 'obiec't fof the present 'invention to overcome the 'foregoing "defects, land to provide a screw :and mit arrangement for l'oclringfa tapered handle-in a-tol head,`whichlar1farigement will "be inexpensive and 'seh-locking, fand 'which will :not weaken any exposed :part o the`inainclleA subject to Abrezaillzin'g `-or splitting force.

To accomplish fthe' foregoing general objects, and other ymore specific objects which willZ here-- inafter appear, my invention resides' in fthe tool and handle and attaching' elements,v :and their relation one 'to another, asraresm'oreparticularly described in `the following specic'ation. 'The specification Iis accompanied 'by 'a drawing, in which:

Fig. v1 is a partially sectionedfsi'de elevation of a part foi" 'a tool, embodying fea-tures o! lmy fluiten--v tion; i

f hiaaiisfanend view oilthefame;

fFlg. riis-'anexploded `View showing Ithe parts oifthehandle. i

Referringtofthe. drawing, "an'dwmore particularly tol'lg. gtheftool-handle v't2 comprises a'tapere'd. endl #and a vU-shaped'sheet'mei-,a1 nutlS hav-ing` a threadlenga'gihgporti'on 'at 'the ibase I8 offtlle The encro the handle has' cutsreceiving: the 'armsfofthe U, and an zanchorpin 22spasses` transversely through 'the `tapered end. ill of the handle, and through mating 'holes Vin the arms.

of ithenu't, in 'order to anchor the `nut in 7the end-"ofthe handle.

The relation loffthe parts when assembled "to\ gether, Vwill be v*clear from examination of Figszj I, and 4 of the 'drawingfinwhichtwill'be seen. how 'the arms l6 fof the nutare locked :in handl'e I'Zb'y means ofthe-pin- 22'.

The tool is :herellustrated `as a. .'claw-Jhanfmer; the head2-'24 of vvir-nich yhas a tapered socketrwhich matesiwifthfthe taperonfhandle yl 2*. :hoover plate. 281 bridges across the outer vor small end of the,l tapered socket, and a screw 30 passes through plate "28 into "the nut. -t will be evident that when "the lscrew' :is tight, it 'prevents longitudinal movement y'of the handle out of the head oi" the hammer, thus "maintaining Y.the ydesired tight fit between the 'tapered 'handle and the tapered socket' inthe "tool head.

The :mit -.preferably a self-'locking nut.V In'.

the present case 'it is 'a so-called speed mit,4 manufactured by Tin'ne'rman Products, Inc., of Cleveland, Ohio.. It characterized by the fprovision o'fthread-engagingprongs-32 fand Bis/truck from the sheet metal 'body iof the nut. Thesel prongsdiffer 'from yone another, fior theyengage the screw at points which 'arela half-pitch apart along the screw. The prongs are arched'in such a "Way 'that when the fsc'rew is tightened, the prongs -pus'h 'deep'in'to 'the `r'ootof the thread and are bent lin suche wa'yas'tov be self-looking. There. are-other selflocking `huts of this same 'general character :made by other manufacturers. The nut'isparticularly well suited 'foi-the present purpose not only because of its self-locking char# acterstic, but leven more 7-h'ecause it 'can be anl ehored to the'handle withoutfappreciablyweakening'the'handle.

"Specifically, to receive the arms of the nut,

` itis merely necessary `to provide thin "s'lots such as -t'liose indicated 'at '20, 20 'in Fig. '6. These 'are readily produced by rva lpair 'of 'saw-'cuts The Lpin 22 anchors the nut in the handle, 'and the 'assem-' cause the -slots for .the nut `and fthe hole '.'ior

understood that the head includes the usual boss l.

or shank portion 40. Some tool heads, for example an ax, do not have such an extension, but in that case the width of the ax blade is itself 3. A wooden tool handle having a tapered end, a U-shaped sheet metal nut having self-locking thread-engaging prongs struck from the base of the U, the' end of said'handle having cuts receiving the varms of the' U, and an anchor pin passing transversely through the tapered end of the handle and through mating holes in the arms of the nut in order to anchor the nut in the end of the handle.

4. A tool comprising a head having a tapered "socket, a handle having a matingly tapered end much greater than the width of a hammer, so

that the same ample depth of socket is available to protectively enclose a substantial length of handle.

lIt is important toA understand that the work load of the tool is not applied to the screw 30, and it is neither contemplated nor necessary that the nut and screw be designed-to take the force of the hammer blows. Actually the load is taken wholly by the tight fit between the handle and the head. The mating tapers insure this result. The taper is preferably made slight, so that the wedging action between the handle and the head will be a very secure one. The only thing that it is necessary ,for the screw and nut to do is to inhibit any initial longitudinal movement of the handle relativeto the head, for that would in turn loosen the t between the tapered parts, and thereupon much of the Work load would be applied to the screw.

In practical operation the tool may be used for a long time without any perceptible loosening of the parts. In the event, however, that loosening should occur, either because of long, hard use of the tool, or because of drying and shrinkingof the wood, such looseness will be noticed by the person using the tool. He will thereupon hit. the free end of the handle against a hard surface (as is now done with ordinary hammers), thus forcing the head tightly on the handle, following which the screw 30 will be tightened to hold the handle in its new tightened position. In Figs. l and 3 it will be noted that a space or clearance 42 is provided between the end of the handle and the cover plate 28, thus affording room for retightening the handle, as described.

'l It is believed that the construction and method of use, as well as the advantages of my improved method of' attaching a tool handle to a tool head, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description thereof. It will also be apparent that While I have shown and described the invention in a preferred form, changes may be made in the structure disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention, as sought to be dened in the following claims.

I claim:

I 1. In combination, a tool handle, a nut, and an anchor pin, said nut being a U-shaped sheet metal nut having self-locking thread-engaging prongs struck from the base of the U, the end of said handle having recesses receiving the arms of the U, and said anchor pin passing crosswise through the end of the handle and through mating holes in the arms of the nut in order to anchor the nut in the end of the handle.

2. A tool handle having a tapered end, a U-shaped sheet metal nut having a thread-engaging portion at the base of the U, the endof said handle having cuts receiving the arms of the U, and an anchor pin passing transversely through the tapered end of the handle and through mating holes -in the arms of the nut in order to anchor, the nut in the end of the l'landle.-v

received in said socket, a U-shaped sheet metal nut having a thread-engaging portion at the base ofthe U,'the end of said handle having recesses receiving the arms of the U, an anchor pin passing crosswise through, the tapered end of the handle and through mating holes in the arms of the -nut -in orderuto anchorr the nut in the end of the handle, a plate on said tool head across the small. end of the tapered socket, and a screw passing through said plate into said nut in order to hold the tapered end of the handle tightly in the tapered socket.

5. A tool comprising a. head having a taperedsocket, a wood handle having a matingly tapered end received in said socket, a U-shaped sheet metal nut having self-locking thread-engaging prongs struck from the base of the U, the end of said handle having cuts receiving the arms of the U, an anchorV pin passing transversely through the tapered end of the handle and through mating holes in the arms of the nut in order to anchor the nut in the end of the handle, a cover plate on said tool head across the small end of the tapered socket,. and a screw passing through said cover plate intosaid nut in order to hold the tapered end of the handle tightly in the tapered socket.

6. A tool comprising a head having a tapered socket, a wood handle having a matingly tapered end received in said socket, .a U-shaped sheet metal nut, having self-locking thread-engaging prongs struck from the base of the U, the end of said handlehaving cuts receiving the arms of the U, an anchor pin passing transversely through the tapered end of the handle and through mating holes in the arms of the nut in order to anchor the nut in the end of the handle, a cover plate on said tool head across the small end of the tapered socket, and a screw passing through said cover'plate into said nut in order to hold the tapered end of the handle tightly in the tapered socket, said nut and anchor pin being located in a part of the tapered end of the handle which is fully and protectively housed within the aforesaid tapered socket. y

7. A wooden tool handle having a tapered end, said end being rectangular in cross-section, a U- shaped sheet metal nut having self-locking thread-engaging prongs struck from the base of the U, the end of said handle having a pair of generally collateral saw-cut like cuts receiving the arms of the U, said `cuts extending longitudinally of the handle and transversely of the long sides of the aforesaid rectangular section, said cuts extending entirely across the end of the handle, and :an anchor pin passing transversely through the tapered end of the handle in the ydirection of the long sides of the aforesaid rectangular section, said pin passing through mating holes in the arms of the nut inorder to anchor the nut in the end of the handle.

' 8. A tool comprising-a handle as defined in claim '7, and :a head having a tapered socket di mensioned to receive the tapered end lof the handle, a cover plate enl said tool head across the small end of the tapered socket, and a screw passing through said cover plate into said nut in order REFERENCES CITED to hold the tapered end of the handle tightly in The following references are of record in the the tapered socket. file 0f this patenti 9. A tool comprising a handle as defined in 5 claim 7, and a head having a tapered socket d- UNITED STATES PATENTS mensioned to receive the tapered end of the han- Number Name Date dle, a cover plate on said tool head across the 224,244 Tangeri Feb. 3, 1880 Small end of the tapered socket, and a screw pass- 1,903,252 Willman Mar. 28, 1933 ing through said cover plate into said nut in order 10 2,202,863 Plon June 4, 1940 to hold the tapered end of the handle tightly in 2,345,053 Judd Mar. 28, 1944 the tapered socket, said nut and anchor pin being located in a part of the tapered end of the FOREIGN PATENTS handle which is fully and protectively housed Number Country Date within the aforesaid tapered socket. 15 28,531 France Mar. 10, 1935 CHRISTOPHER D. BUDEIMAN. 

